How to Keep Student ID—Best Ways to Carry Your Student ID

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Once you get your student ID card, you need to know how to keep your student ID.

The best ways to carry your student ID are in a phone wallet, wallet, or purse. You can carry your student ID in an ID holder on a lanyard or keychain. If your college supports it, adding your student ID to Google or Apple Wallet is a great way to not have to carry your student ID with you.

The best college ID holders for guys are phone wallets, wallets, money clips, lanyards, or keychains.

Let’s look at some of the best ways to carry your student ID more in depth.

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Table of Contents show

Phone wallet

Since college students pretty much always have their phones, the best way to carry their student ID is with a phone wallet.

Phone wallets can be:

Small card slots that stick on the back of your phone, such as this leather one or this silicone one.
Small card sleeves (sleeves have a top that fully covers the card) that stick on the back of your phone.
Small zippered wallets that stick on the back of your phone.
A phone case that has a wallet.

There are a lot of options, so you can pick the kind you prefer, and then you will know that you always have your student ID on you.

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Wallet

The next easiest way to carry your student ID is to put it in your wallet. Most people take extra precautions to make sure that they do not lose their wallets, so you are less likely to lose your student ID.

You can even get a wallet with a clear pocket on the outside so you can scan it easily.

Purse

For girls that carry a purse, it is easy to carry their student ID in their purse, either on a lanyard, keychain, in their wallet, or in a pocket of the purse.

ID holder

Students can get an ID holder that is clear, black or white leather ID holder, or colorful ID holder.

While you can put your ID holder in your purse or backpack, it is more common to attach it to a lanyard or keychain.

Lanyard

Lanyards are a surprisingly controversial topic—people debate whether college students should wear lanyards.

Let’s look at some pros and cons.

Lanyard Pros:

Often they are given to students by the school.
Convenient to have your student ID with you and accessible.

Lanyard Cons:

It is an easy way to tell that you are a freshman because freshmen are the only ones that wear lanyards.
They can get caught on things.
They could be a safety risk due to being highly visible and around your neck.

Due to the safety strangulation concern, breakaway lanyards have a snapping mechanism that breaks open if pressure is applied.

You can use your school’s lanyard, a plain black one, one with a cool design (I like the sea turtles option), or a cute wooden bead lanyard.

If you don’t want to wear the lanyard, you can put it in a purse, bag, backpack, or pocket—that way, it is still easier to find the ID when you are looking for it.

Keychain

Instead of a lanyard, students can put their ID card holders on a keychain. Students are more likely to keep track of their ID if it is attached to their keys.

Coin purse

If you carry a coin purse, students can keep their student ID there—some coin purses even have a clear front for their ID.

Money clip

If you are someone who carries a money clip, this can be a good way to carry your student ID.

Pocket

Putting your student ID in your pocket makes it easier to access but also easier to lose. If you decide to carry your student ID in your pocket, consider putting it in an ID holder and always put it in the same pocket so that it becomes a routine and is easy to check.

Put your student ID on your phone

Some colleges support adding student IDs to Google or Apple Wallet, which makes it convenient for students to scan their student IDs from their phones (which students will be almost guaranteed to have). It makes it so that students don’t have to worry about carrying around their student ID.

Check with your college to see if they support student IDs on Apple or Google Wallet.

If your college does not, at least take a picture of your student ID so that you can reference your student ID number. You could potentially show that picture if you lose your ID card until you get your replacement.

Learn more about getting a student ID card replacement.

If your college does support this, let’s go over the simplest way to add your student ID to Google or Apple Wallet.

How to add student ID to Google Wallet

The specific steps will depend on which college you attend, but in general, to add your student ID to Google Wallet, you will need to:

Check that your college supports adding your student ID to Google Wallet (and at which locations).
Have an Android phone.
Have your phone updated.
Download Google Wallet.
Download your college’s app and sign into your account.
Click “Add to Google Wallet”.
Follow the on-screen instructions.

For more help, check with Google and reach out to your college.

How to add student ID to Apple Wallet

Unfortunately, fewer colleges support adding your student ID to Apple Wallet, but the list of schools continues to expand.

The exact process will vary depending on which college you attend, but in general, to add your student ID to Apple Wallet, you need to:

Check that your college supports adding your student ID to Apple Wallet (and at which locations).
Have an Apple phone.
Have your phone updated.
Download Apple Wallet.
Download your college’s app and sign into your account.
Click “Add to Apple Wallet”.
Follow the on-screen instructions.

For more help, check with Apple and reach out to your college.

How to not lose your student ID

It doesn’t actually matter which way you carry your student ID—it just matters that you don’t lose it.

You don’t want to lose your student ID. It is a pain to have to replace it, and often the replacement costs. It is also a security threat—if you lose your student ID, tell your college immediately so they can deactivate your card.

Learn more about what someone can do with your student ID.

To avoid losing your student ID, pick a method for carrying it and stick with it. The best method for carrying your student ID is whichever one you will consistently use.

When you aren’t carrying your ID around, keep it in the same place, such as by the door or where you put your keys.

Now that you know the best ways to carry your student ID, check out 15+ Things a Student ID Can Be Used For.